You can use an instance of LocationEngine to acquire location updates without showing the map.
final LocationEngine locationEngine = new LostLocationEngine(this);
locationEngine.setPriority(LocationEnginePriority.HIGH_ACCURACY);
locationEngine.addLocationEngineListener(new LocationEngineListener() {
@Override
public void onConnected() {
locationEngine.requestLocationUpdates();
}
@Override
public void onLocationChanged(Location location) {
}
});
locationEngine.activate();
Make sure that once you finish getting the location information needed or your activity gets destroyed you remove all listeners, stop requesting updates and deactivate the engine.